Private matter

Sir - Sandra Fayle suggests (letter, Oct 27) that independent schools "cream off" the best teachers that have been trained by the state, without having funded that training. Perhaps she would apply that principle to other areas of employment? In my lifetime it has always been assumed that part of the contract between taxpayers and the government is that we pay tax for the common good of all, and that common good surely includes having sufficient trained people to staff the various institutions upon which the wealth of the country depends.